Hashtag on the march
Some may recall my FA Trophy trail starting at Hashtag United last season. Indeed, the title of my book, which followed last season’s FA Trophy, was From Hashtag United to Wembley. Hashtag United caved in in that 1st Round Qualifying tie as Chipstead recorded a 4-1
win. After struggling for the early part of last season, Hashtag United have gone from strength to strength. They are currently seven points clear of second-placed AFC Sudbury in the Isthmian North Division and a massive 18 points clear of third-placed Lowestoft Town. On Saturday, they ran out 8-1 winners away to relegation-threatened Tilbury. Their recent 3-2 win over AFC Sudbury leaves Hashtag United in an excellent position to clinch the one automatic promotion spot to the Isthmian Premier Division.
Real deal
Last week, I wondered whether Real Bedford pronounced “Real” like Real Madrid or the English adjective. No sooner had Review 64 gone live, and those friendly people at Real Bedford informed us that it is like Real Madrid. I assume they are referring to their name, not their standard of football. It leaves me hoping that there is a team called Atletico Bedford playing in the Bedford and District Sunday League Division 3. Somehow, I doubt it.
Real funny
Thinking about Real Madrid jarred in my head memories of my father. He had an uncanny knack for making long names funnier. It started when travelling on a family holiday to Happisburgh in Norfolk. Not only is Happisburgh pronounced “Haysboro”, which is admittedly illogical, but my Dad insisted on calling it Happydrome. His footballing renaming extended to Hamilton Docamedicals, Stenmousecure and Borussia Munchengrosslich, which was grand.
Cuckoos clocked
With little optimism, Yaxley probably set off for high-flying Sporting Khalsa for their North Premier League Midlands Division match.
Yaxley are bottom of the division with a meagre four points. Yaxley will have been disappointed to let in a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but the scoreline meant that they were still six goals away from conceding their 100th League goal of the season. With 15 minutes remaining, they were 3-0 down, but then the floodgates opened, and Sporting Khalsa rattled in five more goals, including a nine-minute hat-trick for Micrale Okafor, to win 8-0. Still, Yaxley didn’t do much worse than Manchester United.
Rebels with a cause
Slough Town made things difficult for themselves this week as they had two players sent off in the 35th minute – one for a foul, the other as a result of the ensuing melee. Just before half-time, Worthing, in the National League South play-off spots, predictably took the lead. However, Ogo Obi regularly troubled the Worthing defence in the second half. Following Johnny Goddard’s shot rattling the woodwork, Josh Jackman fired home an equaliser, earning nine-man Rebels a 1-1 draw.
Upson downs East Thurrock
Stowmarket Town, nicknamed the Old Gold and Blacks, usually play in old gold and black, you might be surprised to learn. This week, they faced East Thurrock United, who play in amber shirts and black shorts. Stowmarket, therefore, wore their change kit of all red. Both teams are just outside the play-off places in the Isthmian League North Division. With Stowmarket leading 1-0 in injury time, the sea of red shirts parted, allowing Moses to score for East Thurrock United. Moments later, there was much joy for the OG&Bs as Luke Upson fired home a winner.
Real fishy tale
Jason Anonymous has been in contact about the origins of Halesowen Town’s nickname of The Yeltz. “The Pungus Catfich story is bollocks”
(see Review 64), he writes. “You have fallen for some joke”, he continues. Seemingly quoting from Wikipedia, Jason tells us that “Pangasius pangasius, the Pangas catfish, is a species of shark catfish native to the contemporary and brackish waters of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan”. I frantically searched for my source relating to Pungus Catfich, the Hungarian footballer, and rather like googling for ‘missing medieval servant boy’, I got the message ‘page not found’.
Thank Goodness for Google
Was the Pungus story a joke? Did I imagine seeing this gem about Pungus Catfich being the reason for Halesowen’s nickname? After much frantic Googling, I found my source for the story about Pungus Catfich and the possibility that there may be some truth. It’s fair to say that the reference is hardly the most reliable, but a source is a source. Soccer AM/MW ran a blog article looking at interesting nicknames, and The Yeltz appeared there. However, Halesowen Town historians Ben Bullock (did you mean Bullock, Jason?) and Matt Ponter cannot find any record of Pungus playing for Halesowen, which means the reason for Yeltz being Halesowen Town’s nickname is a mystery. Next week, we look into the fabulous career of Australian goalkeeper Norman Conquest.
